pink crepe myrtles / sketch

I started this yesterday in Plein air and finished it at home using my Inktense pencils and watercolor in a tube for the background. I wanted to try to make the background as smooth and thin as I could. Some blossoming of the paint happened, maybe because the paper warped. I remember stretching watercolor paper long ago. I might have to look it up and see how other artists do that. Or, if any of my fellow bloggers could tell me, do you stretch your paper? and if so how? I’d be interested. It seems like extra work, like priming a canvas, but I still prime my canvases for an oil painting.

 

Crepe Myrtles / pastel study

It’s not finished. I have the leaves sketched in charcoal but I might not fill them in. The flower is the fun part.

This is close to life size on a 9 x 12 paper. The tree is next to my apartment and I stood on my balcony to draw it. The blossoms are starting to fall down on my car.

I’m glad I did this pastel today because I put it off while I watched Lucifer on Netflix. The devil is a good looking British chap. Did I feel guilty about abandoning my art for a week while I binge watched Lucifer? Not at all. And I learned that you don’t go to hell unless you feel guilty. So, that means I should be ok.

I think I’ll go to Back Bay next and try watercolor again.